Volume 18, Issue 2 2105217
Research Article

Biomass-Induced Diphasic Carbon Decoration for Carbon Nitride: Band and Electronic Engineering Targeting Efficient N2 Photofixation

Zheng Tang

Zheng Tang

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

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Lijun Xiong

Lijun Xiong

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

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Xiaoyue Zhang

Xiaoyue Zhang

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

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Jinyou Shen

Corresponding Author

Jinyou Shen

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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Aiwu Sun

Aiwu Sun

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaiyin, Jiangsu Province, 223001 P. R. China

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Xiangyang Lin

Xiangyang Lin

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

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Yong Yang

Corresponding Author

Yong Yang

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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First published: 18 November 2021
Citations: 12

Abstract

Boosting the replacement of traditional NH3 production (Haber–Bosch process) with photocatalytic technology is of great importance for energy and environment remediation. Herein, to develop a photocatalyst with efficient charge separation and abundant reactive sites for photocatalytic N2 fixation, a biomass-induced diphase-carbon doping strategy is proposed by adding lotus root starch which can be environmentally produced into the preparation of carbon nitride (CN). The adjustment to the CN framework by planar-fused carbon optimizes the band alignment of the catalyst, improving its response to sunlight. In particular, the in-plane-fused carbon in collaboration with the physically piled carbon initiates unique dual electron transfer pathways from different dimensions. The diphasic carbons can both function as qualified reactive sites according to the experimental explorations and further theoretical calculations, which effectively regulate the electron transfer and energy barrier associated with the N2 reduction on catalyst. The bio-carbon-doped catalyst exhibits drastically enhanced photocatalytic N2 fixation performance, and the NH3 yield on the optimized DC-CN0.1 reaches 167.35 µmol g−1 h−1, which is fivefold of g-C3N4 and stands far out from the single-phase doped systems. These explorations expand the metal-free skeleton engineering toolbox and provide new guidance for the solar energy utilizations.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

Research data are not shared.

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